Unity Supplication
 An image of Iranian combatants in the Iran-Iraq War reciting the Unity Supplication while holding hands after prayer. | |
| Subject | Tawhid |
|---|---|
| Issued by | Prophet Muhammad (s) |
| Shi'a sources | ʿIlal al-Sharāʾiʿ • Tahdhīb • al-Muqnaʿ |
| Monographs | 'Ilal al-sharayi' • Tahdhib al-ahkam • Al-Muqni' |
Unity Supplication (Arabic: دُعاء الوَحدَة) refers to dhikrs that Prophet Muhammad (s) recommended reciting after obligatory prayers. It is recited as a symbol of unity.[1]
According to al-Shaykh al-Saduq (d. 381/991) quoting Imam al-Sadiq (a), the Prophet (s), after the Conquest of Mecca and performing Zuhr prayer beside the Black Stone, raised his hands and said Takbir three times. Then he recited this supplication and recommended: "Say three Takbirs and recite this supplication after every obligatory prayer. Whoever acts in this way after the Taslim of the prayer has fulfilled the duty of gratitude he owes to God for strengthening Islam and its armies."[2] Al-Shaykh al-Saduq has reported this supplication in the book al-Muqni' as follows:
| "There is no god but Allah, the One God, and we submit to Him. There is no god but Allah, and we worship none but Him." | "لاَ إِلَهَ إِلاَّ اللَّهُ إِلَهاً وَاحِداً وَ نَحْنُ لَهُ مُسْلِمُونَ لاَ إِلَهَ إِلاَّ اللَّهُ وَ لاَ نَعْبُدُ إِلاَّ إِيَّاهُ" |
| "Being sincere to Him in religion, though the polytheists should be averse. There is no god but Allah, our Lord and the Lord of our first forefathers." | "مُخْلِصِينَ لَهُ اَلدِّينَ وَ لَوْ كَرِهَ الْمُشْرِكُونَ لاَ إِلَهَ إِلاَّ اللَّهُ رَبُّنَا وَ رَبُّ آبَائِنَا الْأَوَّلِينَ" |
| "There is no god but Allah, He is One, He is One. He fulfilled His promise, helped His servant, and honored His army." | "لاَ إِلَهَ إِلاَّ اللَّهُ وَحْدَهُ وَحْدَهُ أَنْجَزَ وَعْدَهُ وَ نَصَرَ عَبْدَهُ وَ أَعَزَّ جُنْدَهُ" |
| "And He defeated the confederates alone. So to Him belongs the kingdom and to Him belongs all praise. He gives life and causes death, and causes death and gives life." | "وَ غَلَبَ الْأَحْزَابَ وَحْدَهُ فَلَهُ الْمُلْكُ وَ لَهُ الْحَمْدُ يُحْيِي وَ يُمِيتُ وَ يُمِيتُ وَ يُحْيِي" |
| "And He is the Living who does not die. In His hand is [all] good, and He has power over all things."[3] | "وَ هُوَ حَيٌّ لاَ يَمُوتُ بِيَدِهِ الْخَيْرُ وَ هُوَ عَلَى كُلِّ شَيْءٍ قَدِيرٌ" |
Al-Shaykh al-Tusi in Misbah al-mutahajjid[4] and Tahdhib al-ahkam,[5] and al-Qadi al-Nu'man al-Maghribi in Da'a'im al-Islam[6] have also narrated this supplication with slight differences.
There is no single fixed or universally documented ritual for the recitation of the Supplication for Unity across Muslim societies; available evidence is primarily based on historical reports, media accounts, and local religious practices. According to various reports, the recitation of the Supplication for Unity has been practiced in different Muslim societies as a collective religious act symbolizing solidarity, shared belief in Tawhid, and communal cohesion. In several countries, this supplication or similar prayers for unity have been recited after congregational prayers or during Friday prayers, sometimes accompanied by symbolic gestures such as holding hands or collective standing, emphasizing mutual commitment and brotherhood among worshippers. In Iran, reports indicate that this practice became widespread in the years following the Islamic Revolution of Iran and was commonly observed during the 1980s, including in mosques, public religious gatherings, and among combatants during the Iran-Iraq War, where it served to reinforce unity and morale.[7][8][9] Beyond Iran, prayers with analogous themes of unity and reconciliation have been reported in other Muslim-majority countries and diaspora communities, particularly during inter-communal events, religious conferences, and occasions dedicated to promoting harmony within the Muslim ummah. Although the wording, ritual context, and frequency of recitation vary by region and sect, these practices share a common emphasis on overcoming division and affirming collective religious identity through supplication.[10]
Notes
- ↑ Kumeily Khorasani, "Maḍāmīn-i duʿā-yi waḥdat, waḥdatī wa tawḥīdī ast".
- ↑ Ṣadūq, ʿIlal al-sharāyiʿ, 1385 AH, vol. 2, p. 360.
- ↑ Ṣadūq, Al-Muqniʿ, 1415 AH, p. 97.
- ↑ Ṭūsī, Al-Miṣbāḥ al-mutahajjid, 1411 AH, vol. 1, p. 50.
- ↑ Ṭūsī, Tahdhīb al-aḥkām, 1365 Sh, vol. 2, p. 106.
- ↑ Maghribī, Daʿāʾim al-Islām, 1385 AH, vol. 1, p. 170.
- ↑ Kumeily Khorasani, “Maḍāmīn-i duʿā-yi waḥdat, waḥdatī wa tawḥīdī ast,” Komeily website.
- ↑ Javan Online, “Imām (ra) bā khūshḥālī farmūd ʿajab namāz-i jumʿa-ī shud!”
- ↑ Tasnim News Agency, “Namāz-i jamāʿat-i razmandigān-i difāʿ-i muqaddas”; Defa Press, “Qirāʾat-i duʿā-yi waḥdat tawassuṭ-i farmāndihān qabla az ʿamaliyāt.”
- ↑ John L. Esposito, The Oxford Dictionary of Islam, Oxford University Press, 2003, s.v. “Unity of the Ummah.”
References
- Defa Press. "Fīlm/ Qirāʾat-i duʿā-yi waḥdat tawassuṭ-i farmāndihān qabl az ʿamalīyāt-i Ṭarīq al-Quds". Defa Press. Published: Azar 12, 1403 Sh. Accessed: Dey 20, 1403 Sh.
- Javan Online. "Imām (ra) bā khūshḥālī farmūd ʿajab namāz-i jumʿa-ī shud!". Javan Online. Published: Mordad 8, 1402 Sh. Accessed: Dey 20, 1403 Sh.
- Kumeily Khorasani, Muhammad Salih. "Maḍāmīn-i duʿā-yi waḥdat, waḥdatī wa tawḥīdī ast". Website of Ayatollah Kumeily Khorasani. Published: Tir 5, 1401 Sh. Accessed: Dey 20, 1403 Sh.
- Maghribī, Nuʿmān b. Muḥammad al-. Daʿāʾim al-Islām. Qom, Muʾassasat Āl al-Bayt, 1385 AH.
- Ṣadūq, Muḥammad b. ʿAlī al-. Al-Muqniʿ. Qom, Muʾassasat al-Imām al-Mahdī, 1415 AH.
- Ṣadūq, Muḥammad b. ʿAlī al-. ʿIlal al-sharāyiʿ. Qom, Maktabat al-Dāwarī, 1385 AH.
- Tasnim News Agency. "Namāz-i jamāʿat-i razmandigān-i difāʿ-i muqaddas bih imāmat-i farmāndih-i Sipāh". Tasnim News Agency. Published: Mehr 3, 1396 Sh. Accessed: Dey 20, 1403 Sh.
- Ṭūsī, Muḥammad b. al-Ḥasan al-. Al-Miṣbāḥ al-mutahajjid wa silāḥ al-mutaʿabbid. Beirut, Muʾassasat Fiqh al-Shīʿa, 1411 AH.
- Ṭūsī, Muḥammad b. al-Ḥasan al-. Tahdhīb al-aḥkām. Tehran, Dār al-Kutub al-Islāmiyya, 1365 Sh.
- John L. Esposito, The Oxford Dictionary of Islam, Oxford University Press, 2003, s.v. “Unity of the Ummah.”